Assessment

After introducing a new National Curriculum in September 2014, the Government advised schools to find alternative methods of assessing children and therefore no longer using the notion of ‘levels’. Levels were introduced with the National Curriculum in 1988. They were devised with the intention of delivering an assessment system which measured pupils’ progress against a national framework.

At Kew Riverside, we view the changes as a positive challenge and a chance for us to have a more effective assessment 'conversation' about your child's learning than simply labelling ability with a number or letter.

During the Autumn of 2015, we trialled a new method of assessment tracking. This new approach focuses on ensuring children fully understand the key concepts before moving on with their learning. We fully adopted this tracker in the Spring 2016.

During the school year, we will produce an automated 'snapshot' of your child's attainment and progress every term in Reading, Writing and Maths. This will ensure that you no longer need to just rely on twice-yearly parent consultations to be informed about how well your child is doing. We hold an annual Assessment Evening for all parents and carers to explain the full system in more detail (see presentation and guide below).

We describe the children's attainment and progress in terms of an 'Age and Stage' descriptor. Each year, the children are expected to move through these stages from whichever start point to the next year. The stages are:

Beginning

Developing

Expected

Exceeding

Mastery

To reach each stage, the children must achieve a percentage of total objectives for that year group. In this way, we are focusing on closing gaps in the children's knowledge, skills and understanding before moving them on. The expected pathway for each year group is attached.